In light of noy hijacking a previous thread, I have this question. Maybe some biologists can chime in here. Do you think that fish can really get smarter? Do they learn from previous experiences? I've heard a lot of people (including myself) say that bigger older fish are harder to catch because they are smarter and have "seen more than those little youngsters." If they don't have the capacity of memory that we do, how could a 5 year old fish remember "Oh I know that fly, it landed me in a heap of trouble once when I was a young buck. I'm leaving it alone!"

OR

Are they sometimes harder to catch because they have more body to feed and use more energy and so become more selective of the food they eat? Crap, even that term "selective" implies thinking through the possible outcomes of a decision. All right, its lunch time....I'm thinking WAY too much.

But, what do you guys think?